Corn is one of the most produced and consumed cereals worldwide, and to ensure efficient harvesting, farmers use specialized machinery tailored to the crop’s characteristics. Among the most vital tools in corn harvesting are combine headers, and here, we will focus mainly on the differences between a row crop header and a corn head.
For more information, please visit our website.
Row Crop Headers: These are designed to handle a variety of crops planted in rows, such as soybeans, sunflowers, and cotton. These headers are versatile and are characterized by guards and blades that allow cutting the crop close to the ground while preserving the integrity of the rows.
Corn Heads: In contrast, corn heads are specifically designed for corn. They have tines that fit between the rows of corn, detaching the cobs and allowing them to be processed by the machinery, while the rest of the plant remains in the field.
How wide is a 12-row corn head?
The width of a corn head is typically measured by the number of rows it can harvest simultaneously and the spacing between these rows. For a 12-row corn head with a standard spacing of 30 inches (approximately 76 cm) between rows, the total width will be approximately 30 feet (approximately 9 meters). However, it’s important to mention that the width can also depend on additional factors such as the presence of extra parts on the machinery or specific design features.
Why is corn grown in 30-inch rows?
Cultivating corn in 30-inch rows has been the standard practice in US agriculture and many other regions for decades. The reasons behind this method of cultivation are diverse and range from efficient use of space to resource and machinery optimization.
Optimization of Sunlight: 30-inch rows allow each corn plant to have more equal access to sunlight, which is vital for photosynthesis and, therefore, the healthy development of the crop.
Efficient Water Use: This spacing also optimizes water use as it allows for uniform irrigation and minimizes wastage.
Maximization of Production: Additionally, 30-inch rows are ideal for maximizing the amount of corn that can be planted in a specific area, balancing production per hectare.
Adaptation to Machinery: Agricultural machinery, such as planters and harvesters, has been designed to accommodate this specific row spacing, making planting and harvesting processes more efficient and less labor-intensive.
Are you looking for a corn head that provides precision and maximum quality? Discover our MR-800 model and see why it’s the best corn head for harvesting corn with ease and safety. If you need guidance, contact our team; we’ll be delighted to help you find the agriculture machinery you need.
Frytown, Iowais there any positives the row crop bean head has over platform?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUwDrkJg7Q4
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NW KS/ SC IDI think they are dead when it comes to soybeans (I wouldnt know though, no soybeans here ) but they do pretty darn good in sunflowers and milo.
High maintenance though.
Western illinoisUsed to be several around here, late 70s early 80s. I never ran one, but they did a nice job. Supposedly no shatter to speak of. Two things were always talked about, though. They were a very high maintenance head. And, if there was a rock in 80 acres, it would find it.couple in our area when they came out. those who had them really liked them.
Coles County, IllinoisDad bought one when they came out and we ran them for 15 years.
Good:
1. ) Narrow head for pretty good capacity. I've ran then @ 7 mph.
2. ) Rocks will get caught in belts and jam. Never had a rock get in trap.
3. ) Low loss in low moisture beans.
4. ) Excellent in down beans.
Bad:
1. ) Daily maintenance of cutter head. Imagine adjusting a wheel bearing for each row every day.
2. ) Opening fields is a pain. Need to plant in a manner that facilitates this.
3. ) Extreme stubble wear on tires.
4. ) Very little room to be off when driving.
5. ) Grass very hard to deal with.
6. ) Can't cut as late when beans start getting tough.
7. ) Lots of weight way out in front. Units slam up and down when you hit bumps when transporting.
Central NDIs that an all crop head like those used on corn? Or special head for soybeans?
sw corner ia.herbie pretty much summed it up. with all that in mind, I did run one from 77 to '03. not the same one, but I ran them. after you put spring tighteners on all the belts, all the rotary knife drives, and fabricate a spring tightener for the outside drive chains, maintenance will come down to how often a rotary knife bearing would go out, and the fine threads on the rotary knife would eventually roll off allowing the whole assy to get loose then not cut. I fixed that by cutting off the threaded end and welding a gr 8 coarse thread 1/2" bolt on it. no more tightening worries. I made an installer for the knife bearings so I could change them out in less than an hour. cross shaft has exposed bevel gears that drive this whole mess and they will wear out. this is not a fun job to r&r and certainly not a quick one.
these heads should require some kind of auto steer, for they will make you crazy in contours trying to stay on the row.
what they will do is feed more evenly than anything you can imagine. there is absolutely zero bunching/rumbling with these at any speed. You can ramp up your field speed by changing the outside drive sprocket about 20%, allowing a top speed of close to 7mph, since belts need to match ground speed. shattering, like herbie said is almost but not quite zero. at really fast belt speeds you will get some.
My life got so much easier when I moved to a flex table.Special bean head. They use almost a corn chopping style setup. Rotating cutter disk at the bottom and a couple of belted gathering chains that feed to the cross auger. Farmer I worked with was using one on a rotary Deere up till about 6 years ago. Several laying around fence lines here.
AaronSEIAWould twin row beans work with one of these?
Farmington ILThere were many of those in this area back in the day. We had a 653a on a for several years. They did a good job cutting and feeding. Could really fly compared to a 820 platform. As mentioned, opening up and maintenance were issues. There may be one guy locally running a couple of these yet. The rest are long gone.
NW Iowa. / SW ArizonaI remember talking to a well respected farmer (now deceased ) that had just bought one and was very happy with his new brand bean head. He said it was like watching the bean plants marching up the head like little soldiers. I don't recall how long he had it before he went back to a regular platform.
S.E. Nebr.Had one for quite of few years. Lot of upkeep on it. Traded it in after neighbor asked me to cut his down milo.
Southern INNo.
Goto Xinwanda to know more.
We still run a 12 row sometimes. Nothing like them in real short beans . Also tall lodged beans that the branches are down in the irrigation furrows. The row head points will pickup the down branches instead of cutting them off like the flex head does. Or the reel shattering from trying to get down in the crop to get the down stuff. But there is no doubt they are high upkeep.
central - east central Minnesota -As others have summed it up pretty well . . . .. back in the 70's early 80's, yes, they were the newest updated machine for gathering beans, sunflowers and milo (all crop head ) ~ No other bean gathering device, could cut that fast, with little to no loss, back in the day.
As development in flex heads and now flexible draper heads continued . . . . hands down, the draper heads are the best for beans.
SE ILIve never cut beans with one but i think they are great in 30" milo.
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Dallas Center IA 515-720-Yes in the 70s and 80s they were The Thing for beans.
Clipper Head was a common nickname for them. At least in my part of the world.
Remember rumors that Gleaner and Massey both would have them soon.
One fellow I know wanted to plant 15" soybeans real bad, but would not because he would have to quit using his clipper head.
Another fellow I know who did a fair amount of custom work told me he switched back between a clipper and a table several times.
Small rocks wedging in the belt was a problem. Much better after the reversers came out.
Always felt if you wanted one it would be best if you had two bean combines running.
One with a flex head for opening up, any areas with a lot of foxtail, also if you had real sharp curves.
The clipper for the good cutting.
The head would have to match the planter. Planting 12 and combing 8 would not work.
Thinking I remember reading at the website for Bish Adapters that putting the Deere clippers on Massey, Gleaner and IHC combines was the reason they got in the header adapter business
I see several on TractorHouse. And it looks like most have left the corn belt. Moved to milo areas.
And the asking prices seem pretty good.
Also there are seven model heads on TractorHouse. Deere never made a 12 row. These were shop built, Harvs and probably others.
And the asking price is not cheap.
Edited by Robert W Greif 9/27/ 19:15
Ns/Tr co. KsDeere did make a headers.
South Texas Fun discussions with neighbors and truck drivers about the merits of using a new-type corn head in beans. Always the high point of my combining day. LOL.
Take care. Stetts
Dallas Center IA 515-720-Does somebody know when Deere stopped making the row cutting heads.
And thinking the ads in the later years were aimed at the milo market
SW IowaI purchased one of the last ones sold new here, and it served me trouble free for 14 crops.
Then, I traded up combines, got rid of the row head and I went to a 30' flex reel, and immediately my bean yields dropped 4 bu/a. Yeah, less to break down with a reel, and less beans in the tank.
N.E. MOAs mentioned above, with some self-engineered fixes and fabricating, they were fairly low maintenance and performed very well. We ran four 853A's for many years in beans. Really liked them in our conditions. there were some rotary skid shoes (think of a disk blade layed nearly flat ) that could be put on that worked well. Seems like they kind of faded away when many went to narrower rows/drilled beans. Not involved in it anymore, but still think they'd be a good way to go in 30" rows. They are heavy, and I guess one issue would be a big enough one to keep these newer machines full.
Central IowaBack in the day it seems like most of the John Deere farmers and many of the non-JD farmers as well used them. They almost seemed like they were kind of a status symbol item to have.
I purchased my 653A head in , long after their peak in popularity, after those aforementioned farmers had "moved on" to improved flex heads. This is why I bought my head so cheaply. My machinery purchases always seem to be the polar opposite of current buying trends.
I ridge till my soybeans and find that the row crop head is an excellent fit for harvesting soybeans that are planted on ridges. I like the way the snouts go down in the valleys and pick up any lodged stems. Because the skid shoes pivot they can run at an angle on both sides of the row allowing the head to get the lower pods.
The row crop head is also more "resistant" to rocks compared to a flex head which is just a big "rock scoop". There are only 6 points of entry for rocks on my 653A, and the rock guards keep most of them out. I of course like the way it feeds both soybeans and weeds alike. I should also mention it is easy to keep on the row because the ridges help "steer" the combine.
I should also mention that I kept my IH 820 (Young revised ) 15' flex head. I plant a lot of my headlands in 15" rows and obviously the RCH wouldn't work there very well. It also doesn't work very in odd shaped or curvy fields.
The row crop head has pluses and minus's just like any machine. I don't plan to sell mine anytime soon, I just hope I can continue to get parts. I'm not sure what year John Deere ceased production of them.
Edited by Cardinal_Farms 9/27/ 12:58
Cliff SEIA
Posted 9/27/ 12:58 (# - in reply to #)
Subject: RE: the bad and the ugly. is there any good? row crop bean head...If your losing 4 bpa out of a flex head on a regular basis there is something wrong.Robert W Greif
Posted 9/27/ 14:05 (# - in reply to #)
Subject: RE: the bad and the ugly. is there any good? row crop bean head...
Dallas Center IA 515-720-I was also thinking four bu/acre improvement is a lot.
Figuring very large beans per pound that is 528,000 beans per acre. Or a little more than 12 per square foot.GDAD
Posted 9/27/ 14:28 (# - in reply to #)
Subject: RE: the bad and the ugly. is there any good? row crop bean head...
N.E. MOOne other thing, a guy had to be fairly attentive to the variable speed feederhouse and matching it to ground speed. Too slow, and you'd push the beans down, too fast and the gathering chains/belts would pull them out by the roots, especially if the ground was soft.Cardinal_Farms
Posted 9/27/ 14:40 (# - in reply to #)
Subject: RE: the bad and the ugly. is there any good? row crop bean head...
Central IowaI have run a row crop header on a red combine for years without variable speed feederhouse never has been an issue for me.
GDAD
Posted 9/27/ 15:14 (# - in reply to #)
Subject: RE: the bad and the ugly. is there any good? row crop bean head...
N.E. MOGuess I forgot to preface; in OUR conditions and on the machines WE ran them on, it was something that needed to be adjusted with varying ground speeds to do an optimal job. Results may vary.jd
Posted 9/27/ 17:31 (# - in reply to #)
Subject: RE: the bad and the ugly. is there any good? row crop bean head...
Roseglen, North DakotaJust the opposite. Deere did not make a , but they did make a A for a short time. We actually own one; they are relatively scarce. I have watched ads for 5 years and only ever saw (2 ) A's advertised. One in Illinois, one in SD that a guy bought new (we bot that one )
Farm Equipment Guide shows to be last year of production for 853A; also shows A made from 83-89, hardly seems right to me.Robert W Greif
Posted 9/27/ 19:23 (# - in reply to #)
Subject: A
Dallas Center IA 515-720-16 row 30" Bish built A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzRIQhpmMqIjps
Posted 9/27/ 20:55 (# - in reply to #)
Subject: RE: the bad and the ugly. is there any good? row crop bean head...
nw IowaI have some parts]653A] if you are interested. in profile!!! jpsbmw
Posted 9/27/ 21:22 (# - in reply to #)
Subject: RE: the bad and the ugly. is there any good? row crop bean head...
SCILHerbie56 - 9/27/ 06:34
Dad bought one when they came out and we ran them for 15 years.
Good:
1. ) Narrow head for pretty good capacity. I've ran then @ 7 mph.
2. ) Rocks will get caught in belts and jam. Never had a rock get in trap.
3. ) Low loss in low moisture beans.
4. ) Excellent in down beans.
Bad:
1. ) Daily maintenance of cutter head. Imagine adjusting a wheel bearing for each row every day.
2. ) Opening fields is a pain. Need to plant in a manner that facilitates this.
3. ) Extreme stubble wear on tires.
Agree with all of this.
4. ) Very little room to be off when driving.
5. ) Grass very hard to deal with.
6. ) Can't cut as late when beans start getting tough.
7. ) Lots of weight way out in front. Units slam up and down when you hit bumps when transporting.okie farmer
Posted 9/27/ 22:02 (# - in reply to #)
Subject: RE: the bad and the ugly. is there any good? row crop bean head...